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World of Warcraft has many varied spells, and many ways to customize each one to a certain player specific key. But some actions are a bit more complex then 'conjure water'. Some actions though not automated need to be done in the span of the same time. This is where a macro comes in handy.
Macros are a bunch of slash commands that relegate a few tasks into one button press. These commands are different from hack downloads such as bots as they are imputed into the actual game using their handy macro list; you can make up to 36 different combinations per account (though the option to make character specific ones are available).
For example; there was a very intensive World of Warcraft boss encounter with Lady Vashj in Serpentshrine Cavern. That fight involved a lot of random elements; one in which required the raid members to toss a stone back and forth between each other. Keep in mind that the item dropped off encroaching mobs; once picked up the item caused the holder to become immobile, but could be thrown to other raid members to unlock the shield covering Lady Vashj.
Add in various other elements alongside the present 25 raid members and this could become quickly a painful, confusing thing. A popular macro that was passed around had the 'script' call out who had the item, who it was tossed to and who was closest in range to toss to, all while telling the whole raid and was active each time the player tossed it. This made the fight so much more manageable.
Typical commands found in macros: say, cast, target, p, use, dance; though there are many other commands to be used. Macros can be very useful in doing actions both efficiently and just for fun.
Macros are useful for quickly doing things in succession.
Say you want to quickly cast a chain of instant spells/buffs on your person. A few classes (like Druids and Mages for example) have many buffs to place on themselves. Trying to click on a quick self buff in the heat of battle may escape a player's mind. Simply placing together a few spells with /cast into a macro can fix this:
/cast Furious Howl
/cast Blood Fury
/cast Call of the Wild
Keep in mind that the spells used have to be ones that do not trigger the global cool down. The global cool down is a thing when an action 'locks out' other player actions on the tool bar for a few seconds. It's slight but this action can mess up a macro as macros usually do not do delay type casts (and macros that do work on a timed delay are against the ToS).
Macros are also very useful for targeting certain key targets or players in a group. I recall using a custom macro for keeping up with the raid tank especially for heavy trash pulls:
/target 'raid tank name here'
It's simple and it keeps me locked onto what the main (or off tank if need be) tank's actions as well as his target not wasting that crucial bit of time searching for them. Time wasted searching is time wasted not dpsing/healing.
Role playing can benefit from using macros.
Doing things completely in character is part of the fun of role playing. Maybe your character is a twitchy Mage that is hesitant on making portals due to half the time the spell backfires? Making a macro such as:
/p If ya get lost in the void, don't come cryin' to me!
/cast Portal to Orgrimmar
Or what if you simply want a macro to announce an event? Simply slewing together a saying with an action (or just the saying it's self) can lead to many chuckles and in character moments that will please others in game and add to the immersion.
Macros are useful for doing otherwise overly complicated actions.
Like in the Serpentshrine example from earlier:
/use Tainted Core
/y <------- TAINTED CORE TO:%t!!!
/s <------- TAINTED CORE TO:%t!!!
/script SendChatMessage("!!! YOU HAVE THE CORE!!!", "WHISPER", nil, UnitName("target"));
Without this macro, a fight that is already a dps race and team coordination exercise e becomes a bona fide nightmare. Finding custom macros like this for boss fights is a typical thing for raiders; don't be afraid to investigate what macros other players create nor shy away from creating them yourself. Play around with slash commands, you may create something can becomes a future life saver!